State sends relief material to cyclone-affected Bangladesh areas

Kolkata, February 16 A substantial amount of relief material was sent from West Bengal to Bangladesh today to bail out the cyclone-affected people there, many of whom have been displaced and are facing starvation after the country was devastated by cyclone Sidr.

As many as 111 trucks carrying relief material crossed over from the Petrapole border in North 24 Parganas district to Beniapole in Bangladesh. The state sports and youth affairs department, the Netaji Janmotsab Committee and an NGO Panther Panchali organised the relief. Out of the 111 trucks, 100 transported rice while the remaining carried blankets and clothes.

A team of writers and artistes, accompanied by sports and youth affairs minister Subhas Chakraborty, went to Beniapole today. Eminent Bengali author Sunil Gangopadhyay, Rabindra Sangeet exponent Suchitra Mitra, actor Biswajit Chatterjee and folk artiste Amar Pal attended a function at the Customs House there. District Magistrate of Jessore, Bangladesh, Abdul Bari Khan and Bangladesh’s Additional Secretary of Food and Disaster Management Abu Al Hossain were also present.

“Bangladesh has faced many crises in the past. But we have never found ourselves alone. India has always been there to support us,” said Bari Khan.

“If the Bangladesh government permits, the state government is willing to build 1,000 new houses for the displaced people. Work could begin in April,” Chakraborty said.

In December last year, Union Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee had visited the affected areas in Bangladesh. He had said the Indian government will help rebuild 10 villages in the disaster-hit areas.